Reaching out to poke the zombie's skull, Lin Qi had the strange feeling he was rummaging through his own brains.
A crimson Crystal Stone revealed itself within the brain matter.
"It really is an Extraordinary Item." Touching it with his own hands, Lin Qi was even more certain.
Grasping the Crystal Stone, Lin Qi once again entered his Spiritual Vision to observe the environment outside the room.
His parallel world counterpart had turned into a zombie. This was probably not an isolated case.
The range of his Spiritual Vision was tied to the strength of his Spiritual Power, and right now, it could only cover an 80-meter radius.
In the Mercenary Corps, Lin Qi had been responsible for intelligence gathering and architectural mapping.
Even without ever meeting the other members of the Mercenary Corps, Lin Qi could always gather the vast majority of intelligence on mission locations.
No equipment could escape Lin Qi's Spiritual Vision.
'Just as I thought. This is a Doomsday World, and the apocalypse has just begun.' His Spiritual Vision was enough to cover the entire building he was in.
This was a residential building. The room Lin Qi was in had likely been converted from a standard apartment, with one unit being partitioned into five single rental rooms.
The building was twenty-two stories high, and Lin Qi was on the top floor.
Within the twenty-two-story building, almost eighty percent of the humans had died.
Spiritual Particles were converging on the heads of the corpses, transforming them into zombie-like beings.
'With so many zombies being created, how many Extraordinary Items will this world produce?'
'Even if each type of Extraordinary Item can only be analyzed once, with an entire world as the sample size, there will be no shortage of varieties.'
'A moment of silence for this world's apocalypse.'
Lin Qi remained in his Spiritual Vision state, his body standing ramrod straight.
He felt no pity, even as he saw, through his Spiritual Vision, several people in this very building confronting zombies in terror.
'I have enough time before I return to finish analyzing this Extraordinary Item.'
Having grown up in the Cyber World, Lin Qi knew full well that he had to remain cautious at all times.
Acquiring more of the same type of Extraordinary Item was pointless and might even expose his presence. The remnants of political power in the early days of an apocalypse were not something one person could stand against.
He activated the laser emitter installed in his arm's Exoskeleton and aimed it at the zombie corpse on the floor.
In just two minutes, only a scorched mark remained on the ground.
Holding the crimson Crystal Stone, Lin Qi sat in the chair before the computer desk. He extended his Spiritual Power, enveloping the Crystal Stone, and began to analyze the Extraordinary Item.
Analysis was an innate Talent of the Wizard Profession. Rumor had it that this was the origin of all Extraordinary Professions.
Lin Qi didn't know if the rumors were true; all he felt at this moment was the frenzied power contained within the crimson Crystal Stone.
The power within the Crystal Stone was unraveled layer by layer, its essence revealed under the Wizard's Talent.
A long time after the sky had grown dark and then bright again, Lin Qi finally reopened his eyes.
The crimson Crystal Stone in his hand crumbled into dust, becoming a new Ability that Lin Qi now possessed.
Extraordinary Items are destroyed after a Wizard analyzes them, which was one of the reasons they were so rare in the Cyber World.
'Blood Manipulation... I seem to have acquired a strange Ability.' A Wizard's powers were difficult to explain with science, and this one certainly didn't match Lin Qi's cover identity as a researcher.
The composition of blood wasn't complex, but it did differ between species.
'So why is this Ability simply Blood Manipulation?'
His thoughts wandered until a fluctuation from the [Door] in his mind brought his focus back.
'I'm about to go back. I've been gone for 24 hours; there might be some trouble when I return.'
'The Red Fruit City Public Security Department isn't easy to fool. I might have to use my connections at the research institute to sort things out.'
'If it gets too troublesome, my only option is to ask that Miss Liu for help.'
In Red Fruit City, there was no trouble that a member of the Liu Group couldn't solve.
With two minutes left until the [Door] opened, Lin Qi suddenly heard footsteps outside his room.
The footsteps were very light; if Lin Qi's senses hadn't been so sharp, he might have missed them.
Expanding his Spiritual Vision, Lin Qi saw the scene outside.
It was a delicate-featured woman, around twenty years old. Her face looked somewhat familiar, likely the parallel-world version of someone Lin Qi knew in his previous life, but he couldn't recall the name.
The woman held a hammer, which was stained with blood. Her clothes were also spattered with crimson.
She crept forward, moving slowly toward Lin Qi's room, clutching a key in her other hand.
'A key?'
Lin Qi's Spiritual Vision focused on the key.
He compared the key to the keyhole of his own room—it was a perfect match.
'Is she trying to get into this room?'
Lin Qi didn't move, simply watching the woman's actions in silence.
If nothing unexpected happened, he and the woman would never have the chance to meet.
The woman moved slowly, keeping her footsteps as quiet as possible.
It took her a long time to reach Lin Qi's door. With the slightest of movements, she inserted the key.
She turned it slowly, placing her other hand on the doorknob.
...
The [Door] opened. Lin Qi was back in the Cyber World, back on his own bed.
It seemed as if nothing had changed.
Only the slight increase in his Spiritual Power and the new Ability he had mastered told Lin Qi that everything he had experienced inside the [Door] was real.
[Classmate Xiaoai: Network connection re-established.]
Text appeared on his retinal display.
Lin Qi used his Intelligent Brain to call up the networked clock.
[February 32, 2089, 12:55 AM]
'The time... hasn't changed?'
He had spent a full twenty-four hours in the Doomsday World, yet not a single moment had passed in the Cyber World?
'Well, that saves me some trouble.'
'No need to pull strings to deal with the Red Fruit City Public Security Department. That's a good thing.'
'More importantly, I won't have to owe that Miss Liu a favor.'
Lin Qi got out of bed. After his activities in the Doomsday World, he was in no mood for Meditation.
The concentration of Spiritual Particles in the Doomsday World was more than ten times that of the Cyber World. The effects of one day of Meditation there were equivalent to almost half a month's worth in the Cyber World.
He walked over to his workbench and used his Intelligent Brain to control the screen there.
Lin Qi opened the news feed.
[Liu's Heavy Industries Unveils New Military-Grade Prosthetic Body]
[Mercenary Murders Continue: Four Dead in Si Clan-Controlled Greenfield City; Si Group Issues Bounty]
["Highest Level" Mercenary Corps? Arrogant Name or Truly Hardcore? 100% Mission Completion Rate]
[Rumor: All Victims in Murders were of a "Mysterious Profession"; Si Group Refuses to Disclose Details]
[BREAKING! Mercenary Murder in Red Fruit City!]
Lin Qi's eyes scanned the headlines quickly, not focusing on any single report.
Focusing too much would get him flagged by the intelligent algorithms, which might attract unwanted attention.
Lin Qi prided himself on his excellent disguise and couldn't afford to show any cracks now.
'The Witch Hunt has reached Red Fruit City already. I wonder which unlucky Wizard got caught up in it.'
'The lure of one million Credit Points is terrifying. If it weren't for this Witch Hunt, I never would have known there were other Wizard Professionals in Red Fruit City.'